Written by The Rabbit Hole Hay Team
In 2019, we decided to change our Timothy Hay product names from First Cut, Second Cut, and Third Cut to more accurately describe the hay you and your small pet would be receiving. They are now known as Coarse Timothy, Medium Timothy, and Soft Timothy.
The main reason behind the name change was we wanted your experience with our products to be more consistent and for you to receive what you expect with each box of Timothy Hay. While referring to a cut of hay by the order in which it was harvested from the field (first, second, and third) is an accurate and precise way to reference it, it does nothing to describe the quality and texture you want to buy.
Over the last ten years, we found we often use the terms like soft, coarse, and leafy to accurately describe the texture of the hay to our customers. It was with that thinking we decided to change our names to something everyone understands.
Medium Timothy Hay is almost always harvested from the second cut. However, in the past we have inspected beautiful first cut hay that was on the softer-side of a first cut and had to reject it. Which is extremely silly as we know you would’ve loved it.
Moving forward we will provide you with the highest quality hay we can find that meets the standards for what Medium Timothy Hay should be, regardless if it’s from the second or first cut.
Harvest: Second or first cut of pure Timothy Hay
Color: Described as a hunter or true green.
Stems/Stalks: The stems of Medium Hay should be thin, less than 1/16th of an inch, however, an occasional thicker stem (stalk) is not uncommon. Most of the stems should be solid, almost wiry in feel. Medium Hay is softer than Coarse Timothy because of the lower number of stems and higher number of leaves.
Leaves: Leaves should be broad and more than half the total amount of hay.
Seed Heads/Flowers: The seed heads, also called flowers, should be fully developed and will generally be between 1-2 inches long on average with small purple wisps. The seed heads of Medium Timothy should be noticeably shorter and smaller than Coarse Timothy, with fewer in number.
Our goal is to offer the highest quality hay, however, all naturally grown and harvested hay holds minor imperfections such as dust, weeds, leaf crush, and brown leaf. The ideal version of Medium Timothy Hay would have none of these.
The 2022 Ultra Premium Medium Timothy Hay we have in stock is currently a second cut. This hay is very soft for a Medium Timothy Hay. The cool weather stunted the growth of the hay and caused the leaves to be broader, and the stems to be thinner and almost non-existent. We rated this year a 7 because this is not a traditional Medium (2nd Cut) harvest, even though the hay is very nice, it just might not be what you are expecting. Our Coarse Timothy Hay was also a little softer than normal, if you are looking for a little coarser Timothy Hay then the Coarse Timothy might be a great option for you.
Here is the report on what we have in stock:
Overall Rating: 7/10
Harvest: Second cut of pure Timothy Hay, it was harvested in September of 2022.
Location: Northern California
Color: Deep Green
Stems/Stalks: Almost no stems.
Leaves: Made up of mostly leaves with the leaf length up to 6-8 inches. They are nice and broad.While they seem to be a little on the short side, they are maintaining their structural integrity and are not breaking into leaf crush.
Seed Heads/Flowers: Very minimal seed heads, the few I could find are all very short 1-2” tops.
Leaf Crush: Almost none.
Weeds: Slight Brome.
Brown Leaf: Light. The rest of the hay looks good!
Dust: None
Summary: This year's Medium Timothy Hay is not the best example of what Medium Timothy Hay should be. This hay is very soft for a Medium Timothy Hay. The cool weather stunted the growth of the hay and caused the leaves to be broader, and the stems to be thinner and almost non-existent. We gave it a 7/10 because this is not a traditional Medium (2nd Cut) harvest, even though the hay is very nice, it just might not be what you are expecting. Our Coarse Timothy Hay was also a little softer than normal, if you are looking for a little coarser Timothy Hay then the Coarse Timothy might be a great option for you.
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This year's Medium Timothy Hay is not the best example of what Medium Timothy Hay should be. This hay is very soft for a Medium Timothy Hay. The cool weather stunted the growth of the hay and caused the leaves to be broader, and the stems to be thinner and almost non-existent. We gave it a 7/10 because this is not a traditional Medium (2nd Cut) harvest, even though the hay is very nice, it just might not be what you are expecting. Our Coarse Timothy Hay was also a little softer than normal, if you are looking for a little coarser Timothy Hay then the Coarse Timothy might be a great option for you.
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This year's Medium Timothy Hay is not the best example of what Medium Timothy Hay should be. This hay is very soft for a Medium Timothy Hay. The cool weather stunted the growth of the hay and caused the leaves to be broader, and the stems to be thinner and almost non-existent. We gave it a 7/10 because this is not a traditional Medium (2nd Cut) harvest, even though the hay is very nice, it just might not be what you are expecting. Our Coarse Timothy Hay was also a little softer than normal, if you are looking for a little coarser Timothy Hay then the Coarse Timothy might be a great option for you.
